


XIV. I Do Believe in Us

by ShadowCas



Series: Where Do We Go From Here? (SPN Hiatus Creations 2019) [14]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Background Relationships, Battle Scene, Betaed, F/M, Final Battle, Gen, I Do Believe in Us, Long coda, M/M, Pre-Season/Series 15, Reunions, SPN Hiatus Creations 2019, The final showdown, Week 14, coda series, the bunker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 04:33:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20500943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowCas/pseuds/ShadowCas
Summary: The final showdown against Chuck comes with high stakes, but there's plenty of reason for hope.





	XIV. I Do Believe in Us

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to sweetness47 for beta-ing!

Billie was right when she said to get ready and stay ready.

There’s only minutes to regroup when Amara and Billie return with Kaia in tow. But those couple of minutes feel like measly seconds when Dean spots Jack behind them.

There are no dramatic reunions with their adoptive son. Dean, Sam, and Cas each get in a very quick hug before being dragged off to their respective battle positions by Amara. Dean barely has the chance to shoot Jack a quick, “Are you sure this is okay with you?” and receive confirmation.

His stomach still turns at the thought of Jack bearing the God-equivalent of the Mark of Cain, but he reminds himself to stay optimistic. Worrying won’t help any of them, and if he can’t trust Amara’s word on this, can he trust her at all? Their entire plan is pretty much running on faith in God’s sister.

He delivers a quick, hushed pep talk to the hunters around him: Sam, Cas, Claire, Jesse, Cesar, and a few others in their fighting group. “I know this is going to be a high stakes battle, but we can do it. Sam, Cas, and I? We came close to taking down Amara before, and that was without much help from Chuck at all. With her help, we can bring him down, too.”

“Dean, do you really think —?” Claire starts. She cuts herself off, but the doubt is made apparent. The unfinished question lingers.

“I do,” he says truthfully. “I do believe in us.” He’s vaguely aware of having said something similar back when Michael was their top target. But this time, he fully believes it. He has to. “We’ve got all the best hunters in the world right here. Not to mention some incredible witches and a deity herself. We’ve got this, kid.” He claps her on the shoulder. “C’mon, whatever you say to pump yourself up, I wanna hear it. We’ve got this.”

Claire gives a smile appropriate for an inside joke. She glances at another young hunter beside her. “Let’s get this bread.”

“Uhh, sure,” Dean says, trying to hide his confusion. “Let’s get this bread.” Personally, he thinks his own platitudes make more sense, but he’s not gonna begrudge Claire of whatever gets her motivated.

There’s not much time to stew on it, however. Just as Amara had suggested, it doesn’t take long at all for Chuck to materialize, lured in by Jack’s presence.

“Guys. Really?” Chuck asks, looking at Jack, who stands up and away with Billie. “I killed him once, I can do it again. And sure you could bring him back, but… what’s the point? We’re just gonna go round and round until you run out of steam,” he condescends, leaning against the doorjamb he appeared in.

“Not gonna happen,” Dean bluffs, readying his gun. The hunters around him do the same.

Chuck’s eyes grow dark. “You’re gonna regret this.”

“Now!” Dean shouts, and another group of hunters open fire from their hidden spot across the room, catching Chuck by surprise.

The bullets don’t do much, but it was never the plan for them to. They effectively keep Chuck distracted as Rowena, Max, and Alicia start the spell to trap Chuck, Amara aiding them by covertly draining his energy while he is preoccupied.

The hunters have been split into three teams. They take turns attacking Chuck, moving in a seemingly random pattern that they’ve memorized and have been training for. Group A, Dean’s group, creates the initial distraction for Group C, led by Bobby, to begin attacking. After that, Group B steps in to divert attention from Group C, this entourage helmed by Jody and Donna. From there, Group A attacks for the first time. Then the attacks continues: B, A, C, B, C, A, C, A, B, and so on. It had been a bitch to memorize, but it does well to take Chuck by surprise and keep him from getting in any hits. They are further helped by the late arrivals who didn’t have time to train with them — Charlie, Garth, and Ketch — who shoot down at Chuck from above, ducking down whenever it looks like he might strike back.

However, the pattern eventually ends, and they loop back to the beginning. Chuck eventually catches on, and predicts the C Group’s next move. He shoots a blast of light at them, and they all fall down, playing dead so that he doesn’t suspect his shot has been deflected by Amara.

The attacks continue between Groups A and B, and the snipers from above. Chuck is clearly getting tired, and Dean unwisely lets his guard down for a moment.

“Enough!” Chuck snarls, sending a blast of light at Dean alone. Dean freezes, forgetting to act as if the blast has actually affected him.

“What?” Chuck asks. “How did you—?”

He sends another blast of light at Dean, and Dean stands firm.

Chuck’s eyes widen. “It’s a trick.” He turns around and is caught off guard by his own sister, making a visible appearance to him for the first time. “Amara? You did this?”

He backs away, but she materializes behind him, causing him to bump into her. Before Chuck can run, her hand shoots out to grab him by the neck.

“How could you?” he chokes.

“How could _you?_” she counters. “You taught me the value of your creations, and now you want to destroy them.”

“They’re not as great as I thought they were.”

“No,” she says. “They’re better.”

“Stop! Please! It could be just you and me again!”

She shakes her head. “Goodbye, brother.”

Light begins to spill out of Chuck, like pillow stuffing through ripped seams. “You didn’t! Amara, no!”

“I’m sorry,” she says, letting him go.

There’s nothing he can do at this point. Dean watches, in awe, as the light swallows Chuck up. He screams and protests, shouting, “You can't do this,” but eventually, his voice dies away, becoming a bright ringing. The light swirls in the air and streams over to Jack, where it begins to swim around on his arm. It finally settles in a raised, swirling pattern on his skin. It’s a scar, just like the Mark of Cain, but Dean finds that the design of it doesn’t unsettle him like his own mark had.

“Holy shit,” Sam breathes beside him. “We did it.”

Dean looks around, counting heads. “Everyone okay?”

There are nods from around the room, and some murmurs from Group C as they rub their bruised elbows and knees. Other than that, everyone seems to be in one piece.

“The witches!” Sam exclaims, running towards the room where Rowena, Alicia, and Max had been hidden away. Before he can exit, however, the three of them come through the door themselves. Rowena crashes into Sam’s chest and is instantly crushed into a huge hug.

“I take it it worked?” she asks, and a laugh booms out of Sam.

Dean takes Cas’s hand and looks up at Jack, who grins back down at them. Cas squeezes back, and that’s all of the cue Dean needs to bound up the stairs two at a time, Cas keeping pace with him so they can get to Jack. Jack folds himself between them for a big hug, a hug that grows even further as Sam catches up to wrap his giant arms around all of them.

“Do you feel any different?” Dean demands as soon as they part, a bit of fear over Jack’s new mark still tugging at his nerves.

Jack shakes his head. “It tickled a little at first, but now I can’t even feel it there.”

Dean notices that Amara has walked up to join them. “There shouldn’t be any adverse effects,” she says. “God’s powers and Jack’s powers are one and the same. My brother may try to hurt Jack, but he will only make him stronger.”

“Good,” Cas says, and Sam nods approvingly. If the two of them feel good about the situation, Dean reasons, he can let his guard down, too.

“What about the Shadow, though?” Sam asks.

“You’ve all done your part to prevent the collapse of reality,” Billie says. “The Shadow agrees to relinquish his hold on Jack _and _Cas for what they’ve done. Just stay out of trouble,” Billie advises.

Dean lets out a relieved breath. Knowing that not only Jack, but also _Cas_ is safe is a gift that allows him to truly relax for the first time in a very long time. _I do believe in us_, he thinks to himself, allowing this mantra to wash his fears away.

_I do believe in us._ And with good reason. 


End file.
